The Dragon Swan
by Spike Trap
Summary: After Emma Swan falls in the Wicked Witches Time Portal, she must become someone else in order to ensure history happens the way it was supposed to. Sorry crap summary. Main pairings are Golden Swan and Bal.
1. The Truth of the Dragon

**The Dragon Swan.**

**Once Upon a Time / Disney's Descendants.**

**Summary:**

After falling into Zelena's Time Portal, Emma Swan finds herself thrown far into the past where she is found by the Great Sorcerer Merlin who helps her control her powerful magic. Eventually, over the course of her lessons, Emma develops the ability to transform herself into a dragon and thus becomes Maleficent. Knowing that she now has a different part to play in events, Emma now has to wait centuries to be reunited with her family.

After her past self falls into the portal, Maleficent is freed and reveals a shocking truth to her parents.

**Main pairings:**

*** Maleficent! Emma / Rumpel**

*** Mal / Ben**

*** Evie / Doug**

*** Carlos / Jane**

*** Killian / Regina**

*** Zelena / Bae**

*** Belle / Ruby**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Truth of the Dragon.**

**Zelena's Barn.**

**Storybrooke, Maine.**

The figure watched from the shadows as the so-called Heroes of Storybrooke fought against the Wicked Witch and her Flying Monkeys, trying to save the infant Charming child from being used as an ingredient for Zelena's Time Travel Spell.

As the figure watched Zelena get blasted away from the ritual by a blast of Light Magic by Emma Swan and Regina Mills - also known as the Saviour and the Evil Queen, respectively - their lip curled into an angry sneer as _Prince Charming_ raced over and grabbed his son, thus ending the ritual and preventing Zelena from going back in time.

But as the concurring heroes gathered around the rescued baby, with Zelena restrained and powerless at their feet, the figure saw that Emma was standing closest to the deactivated spell. It would only take a little nudge to reactivate it.

As the figure took a very particular wand into its hand, it caught the eye of both Regina and Rumpelstiltskin. The Saviour's best friend and her husband of just about a year gave the figure a nod of acknowledgment, they knew who the figure was and knew what was about to happen and knew it was necessary. Fortunately they'd discussed it with Emma and the blond was nervous but willing.

The figure waved the wand and immediately the portal lit up with a bright orange-golden light. "Stand back!" Emma shouted to the group, pushing them further them away from the portal but still keeping herself between it and her family. At that moment the figure waved her hand and Emma felt her ankle pulled out from below her. The Saviour fell to the floor with a thud before being pulled into the portal. "EMMA!" her father called out, but made no move to hand his new-born son over to one of the allied villains so he could save his daughter. The watching figure sneered.

It was Emma's other best friend/drinking buddy, Killian Jones, aka Captain Hook, who raced forward to grab the hand of the closest thing to a sister he'd ever had. He slid forwards and held out his trademark hook for her to grab onto, which she just managed, while Neal Cassidy aka Baelfire, Rumpel's son and Emma's step-son, gripped the pirate's hand in both of his own trying to save her as her legs dangled into the portal.

Emma caught Rumpel and Regina's eyes over her friends shoulders. They'd discussed this event before but now that it was here, the Saviour was scared. However she swallowed that fear and looked at her family and friends and told them "Tell Henry that I love him." before letting go of Killian's hook and fell into the portal, which then closed behind her before anyone could jump in after her.

The group stared on in shock at where the portal had been. Charming, showing the first bit of fatherly concern for his daughter this night, glared at the villains accusingly. Ever since the Curse broke, he and his wife, Snow had tried to convince their daughter to break up her relationship with her then fiancé, Rumpelstiltskin and her friendship with the Evil Queen. Unfortunatley Emma had inherited her stubbornness from both of her parents, and had point blank refused to end her relationships with the villains.

"Where is she?!" he asked angrily as he attempted to intimidate the Evil Queen. It was about as intimidating as a mouse squeaking at a dragon i.e. Not At All!

Regina gave him a glare of her own, which was far more terrifying than his. Gods, how she hated him and his little bitch of a wife. She responded to his question in a tone suggesting she was speaking to a particularly slow and dim-witted child. "The appropriate question, Charming, would be _'when is she?'_. In case it escaped your notice, Emma has fallen into a _Time_ Portal." she reminded him in a voice devoid of the warmth she used for her son and her best friend.

"Well bring her BACK!" David Nolan demanded of them after taking a step back from her glare.

Rumpel rolled his eyes at his father-in-law. He really hated the Charmings, but unfortunately he still needed to play nice for a little while longer. He just dreaded Emma finding out what they'd done to her and their family. "Even if it were possible, Charming - which it isn't - Emma has fallen into the past meaning she is now an intricate part of events and removing her could potentially destroy the very fabric of Time itself!" he told the man before him.

The group of 'former' villains watched in rapt attention as Charmings few brain cells finally sparked into life. "Did you know this was going to happen?!" he asked loudly, causing his beloved son to cry at the loud noise. The Shepard-turned-Prince immediately started trying to lull him back to peaceful sleep.

Regina was the one to roll her eyes this time. How the hell did someone like Emma come from two morons like Snow and Charming was a question the Evil Queen had been asking for years. "Of course we knew, idiot. Emma was the one who told us before I cast the Dark Curse." she revealed.

"You mean that Emma was in the Enchanted Forest _before_ the Curse?" a dumbfounded David asked in disbelief. How could his daughter have been in their homeland and he and Snow hadn't noticed.

"Yes, Charming. That's exactly what I mean." Regina said in the same tone of voice as if she congratulating a 1 year old child for saying 'Mama'. "As it is, Emma was brought over by the Curse and has been... in a sort of stasis for the last 30 years to prevent her from accidently bumping into herself." she told him, hesitating to find an appropriate way to state her friend's current situation.

To say that Prince Charming was shocked was an understatement. His daughter had been Storybrooke all this time. Hopefully the things she'd seen in the Forest had finally shown her that her parents were right about her misguided loyalty. After all Regina had obviously kept Emma locked up for 30 years. She must miss her family terribly. "Well, where is she?" he asked urgently, eager to finally help Emma become the Princess she was always meant to be.

Rumpel, having picked up on these thoughts from the easy to read shepherd-prince, sneered at the man before saying "Tell you what, Dearie, why don't you go take your boy to the Hospital and see your wife. Tell her what happened and once she's discharged bring her to the Library where we'll be waiting." he suggested with a smirk. "I'm sure that Dear Emma has waited a long time to see her beloved parents again."

Ecstatic at the thought of reuniting with his daughter and helping her to embrace the Path of Goodness, Charming left the barn with his son and without a word to the group.

There was a moment of silence before Regina said in a deadpanned voice. "He's one of the people who've foiled my every plan? I am deeply ashamed."

* * *

Shortly after Regina, Rumpel, Killian, Neal and Zelena (who was still magically restrained) were waiting for the Charmings outside the Library with two extra people.

14 year old Henry Daniel Mills-Swan was the son of Emma and Rumpel when they were both 18 - Rumpel having somehow been brought to the Land Without Magic, years before becoming the Dark One, with memories of a life as Rumford Gold (which would later be his Storybrooke identity under the Curse). The two had grown close and had fallen in love, but after making love and conceiving Henry Rumpel was sent back to the Enchanted Forest with his memories blocked, while Emma was made to forget him and made to believe the night was little more than a one night stand.

After being framed for theft and sent to prison by Neal Cassidy - who she'd been friends with and had been stealing on the streets to survive - Emma had discovered she was pregnant but due to the inmates and staff eroding her confidence in herself, Emma had given her son up for adoption. He was adopted by the Evil Queen, Regina and when he was 10 Henry was able to track Emma down and brought her to Storybrooke where she and Regina would quickly strike up a friendship, much to their sons shock and horror. It wouldn't be until the Curse broke when she and Rumpel would kiss following his asking her to marry him, that the true identity of Henry's father would be discovered.

The other person was also 14 years old and was Henry's best friend. Her name was Alice Matilda Jones, the daughter of Killian Jones aka Captain Hook. During his quest for revenge against Rumpelstiltskin, Killian had learnt of a tower guarded by a powerful witch where he would find magic strong enough to kill an Immortal. However instead he found Rapunzel who pointed him towards a flower with the power he sought but could also free her from her prison.

After acquiring it (and singing the lullaby his mother used to sing him to stop a giant garden gnome), Killian had returned to the tower to free Rapunzel from her imprisonment and had wound up sleeping with her. The next morning he'd woken up to find her standing before him with a new-born infant. She'd revealed that she was the witch, Gothel, and that Rapunzel had escaped years ago. Gothel had revealed that the only way for her escape was for someone of her bloodline to take her place. After she'd escaped, Killian had sworn to give up his revenge and protect his daughter, Alice no matter what and even gave the Captaincy of the Jolly Roger over to his First Mate, William Smee.

However, as the years passed Killian became more and more determined to free Alice. So desperate was he, that Hook turned to the one person who had the power to potentially help him, his old nemesis Rumpelstiltskin. and at first, Rumpel had been prepared to kill the pirate before him and put an end to their long feud, only for Killian to beg Rumpel to save his daughter even if the price was his own life. After hearing Hook's story, Rumpel had eventually agreed to help his old enemy and, with help from a friend of Rumpel's, they were able to overpower Gothel and free Alice. Rumpel and his friend had then sealed the tower and disguised it as a large tree to ensure no-one would be able to free the witch.

In exchange for his help, Hook swore to do whatever Rumpel wanted and in the years before the curse, the two old enemies began to build the beginnings of a friendship. And by the time the curse was cast, Rumpel and Hook - while not quite friends just yet - were no longer enemies, with Alice even calling the Dark One Uncle Rumpel occasionally.

Once in Storybrooke, Hook was now Sheriff Ian Rogers and Alice was Matilda 'Tilly' Rogers. As Rogers he would later hire Emma as his Deputy, at least until the Curse broke and Snow became Mayor, when she fired him and made David Sheriff instead causing Emma to quit in protest. Meanwhile Tilly became Henry's eccentric best friend and was one of the few people to believe him about them being fairy tale characters.

The two had been hidden away on the Jolly Roger, protected by spells from the Saviour, the Evil Queen and the Dark One. And with Hook's crew guarding them as well, they were without a doubt the most heavily protected duo in the world.

"So, let me see if I've got this straight." Henry started questioningly as he and Alice were standing with their family outside the Library. "My Ma has fallen into Zelena's Time Portal and is now in the past. And because she played such an important part in past events she couldn't come home until her past self fell into the portal, so she's been in hiding under the Library ever since the curse was cast. Is that the gist of it?" the Truest Believer asked rhetorically, trying his best to ignore the resulting 'Time-Travelling Headache'.

Rumpel and Regina looked at each other before the Dark One answered his second born son. "Pretty much, yes. Honestly a good portion of what I've been blamed for in the Enchanted Forest was actually your mother's doing in one way or another at least." he revealed with a proud smirk.

Henry and Alice blinked then looked at each other before turning back to Henry's dad. "Really?" they asked together. But before Rumpel could speak to give examples of Emma's own manipulations, the Charmings showed up with their son in Snow's arms.

Snow immediately turned a glare onto her step-mother. "What did you do to my daughter?!" she demanded. She'd been at the hospital, fearing that she was going to lose another child because of an evil villain and already beginning to grieve. That was until Charming returned with their son in his arms. She was so happy to have her baby back that it took her a moment to realise that her daughter was not with them. Upon learning what had happened, Snow had immediately discharged herself and they left the hospital.

Regina rolled her eyes at the annoying brat who had made her life miserable. "Oh, sure, Blame me." she said sarcastically. The Queen honestly wondered why she bothered sometimes.

Rolling his own eyes, Rumpel said in an almost bored tone of voice "Instead of blaming each other, how about we go wake up Emma." he suggested to them. "I for one would like to be reunited with my wife." The Dark One smirked as the others all grimaced at the image that just entered their heads.

Recovering from his disgust at the thought of what this monster has done to their daughter, Snow glared at the Dark One and said "Don't be too sure of yourself, Dark One. I'm sure that, now that she's seen you for the monster you truly are, we'll finally be able to convince her to end this farce of a marriage of yours." she declared.

Rumpel and Regina shared a smug grin of their own as they moved to enter the Library. "Keep telling yourself that, Dear." Regina told her with a smirk.

As the group entered the Library, they found that it was empty of its owner. "Belle must be out walking her mutt." Regina joked as she figured the librarian was out with her girlfriend Ruby Lucas aka Red Riding Hood.

Rumpel snorted before walking over to the wall to the left of the doorway. He waved his hand and the blank space shimmered before vanishing and revealed an elevator that was big enough for all of them to get in. He looked back at the group and asked as he indicated to elevator "Shall we?"

As the gang piled into the elevator and it started its way down, Zelena asked a question that had been bugging her "So why the bloody hell am I here?"

At her sisters question, Regina opened her mouth to answer but quickly paused as she didn't have an answer. "That's a good question." she admitted. She then turned to her old teacher and asked him "Rumpel, why is she here?"

The Dark One didn't even look at her as he said "Because Emma told me we had to bring Zelena with us. She said it was important so that's what I'm doing." he revealed calmly. The Mills sisters looked at each other questioningly for a moment but before anyone else could say anything, the elevator came to a stop.

They had reached their destination.

* * *

The floor they'd arrived at was a long dark tunnel. On the stone and rock walls were a series of torches which, as they walked past them, lit up in flame lighting up the way through.

As they walked, Snow glared at Regina. "You locked my daughter up down here. She must be so scared." she simpered as if her daughter was a child rather than the grown woman she actually was.

Rolling his eyes at his grandmother, Henry spoke up "Seriously, grandma, Ma is a grown woman. You don't need to baby her." he told her, annoyed at how she treat his mother.

Snow glared at her grandson. In her mind Henry was far too influenced by Regina and Rumpelstiltskin. He was sadly a lost cause and she would need to convince Emma of that. Perhaps she should speak to the Blue Fairy and see if she could give Emma a second childhood so they could teach how to be a princess, instead of the uncouth individual she'd become from The Land Without Magic.

Further conversation was halted as they walked into a large cavern. In front of them was a large dark rock but other than that it was empty. The only sound that could be heard was a low rumbling sound.

Regina stepped forward. "Em! We're here! Your past self has gone through the portal" she called out. However there was no movement to be seen, although the low rumbling got slightly louder.

Soon the Queen lost her patience. "WAKE UP, YOU LAZY OLD BITCH!" she yelled loudly making the Charmings jump. Immediately after her shout, the rumbling became louder before suddenly the rock before them moved slightly before a large golden eye opened and focused on them.

To the Charmings horror the rock rose up and was revealed not to be a rock at all. It was in fact

"Maleficent?!" Snow screamed in horror as she held her son closer and David moved to stand in front of them to protect them.

It was in deed Maleficent, also known to many heroes of the Enchanted Forest as The Mistress of All Evil. She was in the form of an enormous black scaled dragon with a tan coloured belly, two enormous wings and a pair of glowing golden eyes. However the most distinctive part however was the large black horns on the mighty dragons head.

As the dragon let out an all mighty roar/screech that made your teeth rattle, Snow turned to glare at Regina and asked "So is this your plan, Your Majesty?! Feed David and I to your pet dragon? Is that what you did to Emma? I knew she should never have trusted a villain like you!" she said with disgust.

Regina was about to respond but then, at that moment, Maleficent, having obviously heard Snow speak, glared at the 'Fairest of Them All' with white hot rage and growled out **"YOU!"**

Snow and Charming held each other as they shook in terror. Rumpel and Regina smirked at them while keeping Henry between them as Regina squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. Killian and Neal looked at each other as though they'd just had a long held question finally answered. Zelena just stared in horror. She'd known that her sister was best friends with the Mistress of Evil but she hoped she'd never actually _meet_ the bloody dragon!

The Dragon growled as a puff of flame escaped its mouth. **"Snow White and Prince Charming."** Maleficent growled out in an obviously furious tone. ** "Oh, I have waited _years_ to see the two of you, again!"**

Before any one could say anything, Henry - in either bravery or stupidity, and considering his grandparents it was obviously difficult to tell the difference - called out to the Dragon-Witch. "Where's my Ma?!" he asked.

Maleficent turned her enormous head to stare at him with none of the anger in her eyes, as it was with his grandparents. **"She is closer than you think, Kid."** She then winked at him with her golden reptilian eyes.

Henry's eyes widened as the pieces fell into place. He looked at his Mom and Dad who smiled at him and nodded in confirmation. the Truest Believer looked back to the Dragon and asked in disbelief. "Ma?" he asked in shock. Hearing him Snow and david stared at him in shock before staring at their Dragon nemesis in horror.

Maleficent seemed to smirk at them with razor sharp teeth on display, before closing her wings and bowing her head as a dark green cloud of smoke obscured her from view. Soon the smoke was gone as was the dragon.

And in its place was a beautiful woman dressed in black and with a cowl of sorts with long black horns on her head. In her right hand was a sceptre made of black wood with a green fist-sized crystal on the top. Her blood red lips widened into a smirk as she stared at her family.

"Well, well." Emma Swan, also known as Maleficent, said with a smirk. "Did you miss me?" she asked impishly.


	2. The Charmings Crime

**Chapter 2: The Charmings Crime.**

"Th-This is impossible." Snow said in disbelief as she stared at the woman in black before them wearing her daughters face. This was like some sort of bad dream.

Emma sneered at her parents. "What's wrong Mommy?" she asked in a mockingly sweet tone of voice. "Are you and Daddy not happy with how your little girl has turned out?" she waved her hand to indicate her outfit. Said outfit would not have looked out place in the Evil Queen's wardrobe.

She was wearing a black tunic like shirt that was open a bit at the top to show off a bit of cleavage, a pair of tight black leather pants with black boots that went to just below the knee. And on top of the shirt was a black coat that seemed to be almost like reptile skin and went to her hips but with a knee length tail at the back. **(Think of what Jaime Murray wore as Nyssa al Ghul at the end of Gotham season 5. It's basically the same thing.) **On the clothing (specifically on the arms, legs and on the tunic) was a faintly glowing golden pattern of symbols. And on her head was the infamous horns that belonged to only one being.

"Emma?!" Snow was in shock. This couldn't be her daughter. "How could you be Maleficent, a _villain_?!" she said the word villain in disgust as if it was something foul.

"That, _Mother_, is quite frankly none of your business." Emma told her mother, anger clear on her face as her hand tightened on her sceptre. "Not after what you two did to me." she nodded at her and Charming in disgust.

David was in shock. His daughter was the worst villain of them all. How could this happen? "W-We were trying to save you!" he tried to explain, fearful of what the woman who wore his little girl's face would do to them.

The others all winced as they knew that Charming had just said the wrong thing. And if they didn't already know, then the look on Emma's face said it all. "Save me?" she whispered harshly before yelling so loud that her voice off of the cavern walls "SAVE ME!? In what language does 'SAVE ME' translate to kidnapping my unborn daughter?!" she rhetorically asked in equal parts rage and heartbreak. Her glare turned colder as she continued "Or does it translate to STABBING me in the stomach with a sword enchanted with FAIRY MAGIC when I was trying to protect my child!" Charming flinched at the memory of how he stabbed Maleficent while she'd begged them not to take her baby. The Prince had simply called her a disgusting villainous freak before leaving with his wife and the egg.

As her words echo through the cavern, everyone was silent until that silence was broken by a shocked Henry. "W-What do you mean, Ma? I have a sister, somewhere?" he asked in shock, while staring at his terrified grandparents in disbelief and disgust, which was shared by everyone.

Emma's face softened as she looked at her son for the first time in centuries. "Yes, Henry, you and Bae have a sister." she revealed to him before glaring at her parents again. "Or at least you would have had these two not stolen her egg from me before it could hatch."

Henry glared at his grandparents in disgust for a moment before exactly what his birth mother said clicked in his head. "Hang on. 'Her egg'? 'Hatch'?" he asked in confusion.

His mother smiled at him, now ignoring the gaping Charmings. "That's right, Kid. As you saw I can shift into a Dragon. As a result, in the event that I become pregnant - as I did just before your father was sent to that cell in the dungeon - then the child is born in an egg after Eight months, which then hatches during the ninth month." she told him, smirking at her sons gross face. Her smirk faded as she next spoke. "Unfortunately after laying the egg, I'm left too weak to defend myself or my child. And so _these two_," here she growled at her parents, sounding every bit the angry mother dragon she was, "they snuck into the cave I was resting in, disabled my protections - namely Cruella and Ursula, as well as the protection spells put up by Regina - _ripped_ my daughter out of my arms and told me that a monster like me didn't deserve to be a mother - even to a monstrous child like mine!" Emma finished with a hate filled glare at Snow and Charming, who flinched away from her glowing gold eyes.

Her glare was shared by everyone in the cavern - even Zelena was disgusted by the Charmings action. _'And they call me Wicked.'_ she thought to herself.

"What happened to her?" Neal asked his step-mother and his papa, who looked deeply saddened by hearing exactly what Emma had gone through. He'd known about the pregnancy but not what was said.

Emma looked at her step-son with sadness in her eyes. "I had Cruella and Ursula follow them and they found the Charmings in a clearing with the Bitch Fairy, ('Bitch Fairy' being Emma's nickname for the Blue Fairy, since within moments of meeting her after the Curse broke) who opened a portal and Snow just dropped my daughter's egg into it, like she was trash!" she glared at her mother, only this time there was tears in her eyes. "And this..." she took hold of the chain around her neck and pulled out a light purple object in the shape of crescent moon at the end of it "This is all I have of my baby. A piece of her shell that Cruella brought back to me." she then glared stronger at her parents, her eyes glowing as she demanded "She'd begun to hatch as you threw her away, DIDN'T SHE!"

Finally Snow White couldn't stay quiet any more. "Emma, please." she began in a motherly tone, that never failed to piss Emma off. "We were told that the child of Maleficent would bring about your downfall. We couldn't risk it, we needed to protect you." Snow smiled at her daughter, as though she expected Emma to suddenly get on her knees and beg her mother for forgiveness.

Emma was not going to however. She couldn't _believe_ the utter dragon shit that had just escaped Snow's over active mouth. "_Protect me?_ Is that what you were thinking you were doing?!" she demanded. "Then answer me this; if I - as your daughter, Emma - was pregnant here in Storybrooke and the Blue Fairy" the name was said in utter disgust "told you that my child - your grandchild - would be my downfall, would you do the _same_ thing if it meant _protecting_ me?!" she demanded angrily, silently telling Snow that the wrong answer would most likely result in her incineration.

However Snow's silence was all the answer she needed. Emma sneered in hate. "That's what I thought." but there was sadness in her eyes. She'd hoped she was wrong.

"Emma, wait!" Charming tried to stop her from being angry at them. He needed to hope that they could still save Emma from her darkness.

"Be Gone!" Emma growled with a wave of her hand and instantly both (or rather all three) Charmings disappeared in a poof of gold smoke.

Regina looked at the spot the Charmings were for a moment, before turning to her best friend and asking "Where'd you send them?" she wasn't really at all concerned about the Charmings' well being but felt she needed to ask. Any semblance of concern for them ended quickly as she remembered the utter heart-breaking sobs of Maleficent as she nursed her to health after her own parents kidnapped her child, and injured her so severely and told her she didn't deserve to be a mother. The Queen's anger towards the Charmings grew as she remembered the consequences of Emma's injury.

Emma just waved her hand, with utter unconcern as her sceptre vanished with a golden shimmer of light. "Back to the Hospital" she revealed. "I figure Snow discharged herself too soon so they wont be able to leave until at least this time tomorrow." the smirk was clear on her face as Emma told them this. She then turned to her beloved son and with a loving smile on her face said "But until then, can I hug my son for the first time in centuries?"

Henry smiled before walking up to his birth mother and wrapping his arms around her. As she hugged her son, Emma felt tears well up in her eyes. "God, I've missed you so much, Henry." she told him tearfully. And even though he'd only seen her just a few hours ago, Henry replies with an equally tearful "Missed you too, Ma."

After allowing mother and son to reunite, Rumpel stepped forward. "Do I get a hello, my wife?" he asked her with a smirk and love in his eyes directed to his wife and son. At his question, Emma and Henry looked at Rumpel, and then the centuries old Dragon-Sorceress released her son from her death grip and walked over to her husband.

She took his head into her hands and smiled sensually "Ah yes, how remiss of me. Hello, husband." she said before their lips met in a loving yet passionate kiss.

"Eww!" they ignored the sounds of their sons disgust as they continued their 'hello'. When they finally pulled away it was to see Henry and Bae standing with their hands over their eyes to shield themselves from the disturbing sight, while everyone else watched with a mixture of amusement and disgust of their own.

"If you two are done reuniting," Regina began, smiling despite her words at seeing her friends happy, "I think we should move this somewhere else before you decide to continue 'reuniting' on the floor." she wrinkled her nose in disgust at the thought. And it wouldn't be the first time she'd had the misfortune of seeing Emma and Rumpel going at it. Regina shuddered at the memory.

She was never able to look at that dining table in the Dark Castle the same way again.

Unfortunately for her, Rumpel and Emma actually looked like they were considering that very thing. "Hmm, we've never done it in a cave before." Rumpel suggested while sharing a smirk with his beloved wife.

"NO!" everyone shouted in desperation. Emma giggled and gave her husband a brief peck on the lips. "Next time." she promised. The one known as Maleficent then turned to the rest of her family. "Until then." she said before walking to Regina and the two best friends embraced each other in a tight, warm hug.

Grinning, Regina said happily. "I've missed you, Em."

"Missed you too, Gi." Emma replied warmly. Then demanded jokingly "And where do you get off on calling me a lazy, old bitch?"

Regina snorted. "You're twice as old as Rumpel, you're incapable of waking up before noon and you do have your moments of bitchiness." she listed with a genuinely happy smile to take away any bite in her words. "Which of those do you have an issue with?"

The so-called Mistress of All Evil pouted like a child at her words. "Fine. Be that way." she said before parting from Regina and walking over to Hook and Neal. "Hello, boys." she said as she wrapped her arms around both of their necks. Emma grinned into the shoulders of her step-son and her favourite pirate. "Miss me?" she asked.

Killian chuckled at his best friend's question, happy to have her back. "Aye, luv. We did." he told her. "There's just one small issue I have right now." the pirate said.

"Oh? What's that?" Emma asked her friend confusedly. However it was Baelfire who responded to her query.

"It's your horns poking us both in the face, Ems." he said as he just got one good poke in the eye from said horns.

"Oh!" Emma backed away, startled. "Oh, I'm Sorry. Let me fix it." she apologized before waving her hand by her head causing her cowl to vanish in a golden shimmer of light and allowing her own golden locks to fall freely. "That better?"

"Much!" Killian said before lifting Emma up by her hips and spinning her around, making the blond laugh in joy. Once she was on the ground she returned to hugging Neal, who was happy to have the woman who was a better mother to him than his birth mother.

Once she was freed from her boys, Emma walked over to her goddaughter, Alice who had been watching with a smile. "Hey there, Allie." the older blonde said as she released the younger one. "You been keeping your old man out of trouble?" she asked with a smirk.

Alice returned the smirk before sighing in mock tiredness. "Trying to, Auntie Em. Though its easier than keeping Henry out of trouble" she joked and she and Emma laughed when the two in question cried out "Hey!" in mock protest.

Then Emma turned to the last occupant of the cave. "Oh, good. You brought Zelena." she said, glad to see the Wicked Witch was among them.

"Yes, and perhaps you can tell me exactly why you want me here?" Zelena asked dryly to someone who could very well reduce her to dust with a snap of her fingers.

Emma smirked. "Well if I'm to reveal that then we need to take this to Gold's shop, because its there that we can take care of our other outstanding business." she told the group.

She then turned to Rumpel and, with a determined look on her face, said "We find our daughter."

* * *

Once they'd all been poofed to the shop in question, Rumpel immediately got out the search globe that he'd used to find Bae and later Henry when he'd been kidnapped.

"I trust that you remember how this works, Dear." he stated to his wife. Nodding Emma walked up to the globe to prick her finger on the needle. However she was distracted by a sudden snort from behind her.

She turned to see an amused Henry chuckling under his breath. "What?" she asked him, wondering what was so funny. Henry just waved her off and said "Sorry, it's just ironic. Maleficent pricking her finger on a needle." At his words, the others started laughing as well.

Laughing at her son, Emma returned her attention to the globe and, focusing on her daughter, pricked her finger on the needle and allowed a drop of blood to fall on the white orb. Once it did so, it turned into a swirling cloud of red as the magic searched for what was wanted.

However after a moment of waiting they were still watching the swirl. Henry grew concerned that something was wrong with his little sister - who was strangely born years before him but after his mother had had him. After powering through the headache he'd gained from trying to work _that_ out, he asked "Why is it taking so long?"

However Rumpel didn't show any of the concern he felt on the inside as he responded to his youngest son "The Globe is searching all of the realms for our daughter." he revealed. "When it searched for Bae, he was already in this world, so it didn't have far to search. And when it searched for you, Henry, you had just been kidnapped by my father's lackeys, and so the trail was still fresh."

"Ah." the boy said in understanding, which was shared by everyone else.

"So," Emma began as she turned to her family, "while we wait does anyone have any questions?" she asked of them.

A frustrated Zelena was the first to answer. "I have one: Why the bloody hell am I here?" she demanded for the third time.

Emma's eyes widened. She'd actually forgotten that the Witch was here for a moment. "Oh, sorry Zelena. I forgot you in the confusion." she apologized before turning to her husband. "Rumpel, I need two vials of Flushing Draught, please." she requested.

Rumpel looked confused for a moment before looking at Regina and Zelena, and then he nodded in understanding. The Dark One waved his hand and two small vials of liquid appeared on the desk in front of him in a poof of dark red smoke.

"Thank you, Honey." Emma said before kissing her husband lovingly in payment as she took the vials. She then turned to the Evil Queen and the Wicked Witch. "Regina, Zelena come here please."

As Regina walked over and dragged a reluctant Zelena with her. Maleficent handed them the vials saying to the two Mill sisters. "Drink these and everything will become clear." the sisters both looked reluctant but took the vials. They didn't drink, however. "Please trust me." she pleaded with them.

Seeing the pleading look on her best friends face, Regina took one of the vials and uncorked it. Not wanting to seem like a coward, Zelena then did the same as her sister. After grimacing at the disgusting taste of the potion, the Mills sisters suddenly shuddered as the Flushing Draught restored the memory that their mother had taken away with a potion of her own.

_'I'm Zelena. What's your name?'_

_'I'm Regina.'_

_'Does this make us...'_

_'Sisters?'_

_'You and Zelena are sisters.'_

_'No!'_

_'No!'_

_'I will find you! I Promise!'_

_'You wont remember any of this.'_

Once the flashes of memory faded, Regina and Zelena looked at each other with tears in their eyes, as if they were seeing each other for the first time.

Emma smiled sadly at the two. "Do you see now?" she asked as she took hold of a hand each and brought them together. "There was a time when you two were sisters who loved and needed each other. Until Cora ruined it and separated you again by force."

The sisters looked at each other with sadness clear in their eyes as tears rolled down their cheeks. "I-I'm sorry." Zelena didn't know what else to say. She'd spent years hating Regina for their mother throwing her away in favour of her younger sister, now to find out that Cora had given them both what they desperately wanted - a loving family - only to cruelly rip it away.

Regina smiled sadly at her sister. She wasn't at all surprised at her mother's actions - Cora always seemed to take pleasure in destroying people's happiness, why should the happiness of her two daughters be any different. As they hugged, Henry looked at his blond mother, who was smiling at the sisterly reunion, with a puzzled look on his face.

"I'm confused." he said simply.

Emma smile faded as she answered. "When your mother was a child, she was playing in Cora's chambers and triggered a trap on one of her magical objects and could've died." she revealed to him. "The only way to save her was to get a family member who hadn't hurt her - which immediately ruled out Cora - to heal her. And so to save her, Cora went to Oz and got Zelena to help but didn't tell her that it was her sister that she was helping. The two became friends, however while they were playing together Zelena touched one of Cora's objects that was protected by Blood Protection - meaning only someone of Cora's blood could touch it. They confronted Cora, who admitted that they were sisters. However instead of allowing them to stay together, Cora - proving once and for all that she earned her award for 'Worst Mother of the Century' - erased their memories of each other and sent Zelena back to Oz."

Zelena looked at the Savior in surprise but also gratitude. "How do you know all of that?" she asked. Regina looked at Emma, also curious as to the source of her knowledge.

The Dragon-Savior smiled. "Being in the past, I made a point to keep an eye on my family and help them out if they ever needed it." she told them. Then she turned to Regina and her smile faded slightly. "Unfortunately there was some moments that I couldn't interfere in. No matter how much I wish I could." she said apologetically. Regina nodded in understanding that Daniel's death was one of those moments where Emma couldn't meddle.

Emma then turned to the others. "Then there were the other times." she looked at Hook. "I was the old woman who told you about the tower." she revealed to him. Killian looked stunned as he remembered the old woman he'd met in a Tavern who'd been the reason he had Alice. Emma smirked. "I said you'd get what always wanted. I never said it would be your revenge." she reminded him.

Killian pointed at the woman who he realised had changed his life in more ways than one. "You were that Madam, Mim?" he asked her. Henry looked at his mother in puzzled amusement.

"You were Mad Madam Mim?" he asked her with a smirk.

Emma grimaced at the memory. "I hated that blasted woman, but I figured I might as well put her name to good use." she shrugged off the memory of one of the many enemies she'd made in her long life, and turned to Neal. "I was also the one who gave your father the amulet that saved you from the Curse of the Dark Vault." she revealed, making Bae clasp hold of the necklace he still wore. His father had given it to him following their return from Neverland. He told him to never take it off as it would very well save his life as it was a Soul-Catcher which contained the soul of a truly despicable individual and traded that soul instead of Bae's to resurrect his father.

After recovering from the realisation that Madam Mim was real, that his mother had met her and had apparently developed an obvious dislike of the Mad woman, Henry asked a question that had been niggling at him. "Hey, Mom?" Emma looked at her son questioningly. "Did-did you ever name my sister?"

Emma smiled sadly as everyone listened intently. "Actually she named herself." she told them all, making them all look questioningly at her. "Dragons, when they are still in the womb, call out with their magic and through their mothers, call out their name. It's a name they'll be very protective of and wont let anyone call them anything different. Unless it's a nickname that is." she amended.

Henry smiled at the fact his sister would always know her name. "What was her name?" he asked.

Emma smiled. "Her name is Malena." she told him. "In the Dragon tongue it means 'Dark and Light', which I thought was quite appropriate, given her parents were the Dark One and the Savior. I then decided to name her after the woman who I hoped would be her godmother," here she turned to Regina and said "Malena Regina Gold-Swan." Regina had tears in her eyes as she nodded in acceptance of such a position and gratitude at the honour.

At that moment the Globe gave off a humming sound. The group all turned to it to see that the smoke had solidified into a clear image. It was of two island opposite each other - one of which had a noticeable dark cloud over it, while the other looked like a beautiful castle. The castle had a noticeable dark red spot on it, indictive of the one who they were looking for.

Emma looked at the spot. "And now we can find her."

* * *

Meanwhile in the United Kingdoms of Auradon, a purple haired girl woke with a gasp in bed. Her eyes were glowing a bright green.

* * *

**Hi guys hope you like chapter 2.**

**I have a few this to say before I leave this chapter.**

**Firstly to the reviewer noted as Guest: you wrote and I quote **_'Worst story ever' _**and **_'I hate Golden Swan'_**. I'm not asking you to instantly like my story from the first chapter, I'm sure most people wont, but to say this is the worst ever is just cruel. Also check your facts, you wrote that Rumpel married Belle in seasons 6 and 7, they got married at the end of season 3 and were together (baring a few bumps along the way) until Belle (spoilers) died in season 7.**

**Now that's out the way! Also to the ones looking forward to Mal meeting Lily - it wont happen as Lily doesn't exist in this universe. also im not following canon past the end of season 3. So if anyone is looking forward to the Frozen part, it'll most likely be the Auradon version. Sorry.**

**And finally please read and review (nice ones please, if not either constructive criticism or not at all!).**

**See you next time**


	3. Hatters and Curses

**Chapter 3: Of Hatters and Curses.**

As the group gathered around the globe, they all looked at the location revealed with puzzled looks on their faces.

"Where is that?" Henry asked the group.

Emma growled. "I don't know." she said grudgingly. She turned to her husband and asked "Do you recognize it?" She hoped he did but that hope faded as he shook his head sadly. "No, I do not." Rumpel told her with sadness clear in his eyes and voice as well as his heart. Then his eyes widened as a thought occurred to him. "What of the Hatter?" he asked her.

Emma looked at him curiously. "Jefferson?" she pondered before thinking on it. Jefferson - also known as the Mad Hatter - was considered by many (Rumpel and Emma among them) to be the best Realm Traveller of them all. If any one knew this realm it would be him. "Call him and get him here, immediately!" she demanded.

Nodding, Rumpelstiltskin took out his phone and called the number and putting it on speaker so that the others could hear.

"What do you want?" Jefferson said in a form of greeting.

Rumpel snorted. "Why, hello Jefferson. It's good to hear from you too." he said with a smirk. "As it happens, Dearie, my wife and I need your help with something."

"Can it wait, Gold?" the Mad Hatter asked in a tone suggesting he wasn't interested. "I promised Grace that I was going to spend the day with her." he told his old employer as he was currently having a tea party with his daughter.

Emma spoke up, as always annoyed with the Hatter. "Unfortunately this can't wait." she waved her hand and suddenly Jefferson and Grace appeared in the shop in plumes of gold smoke. The two fell to the floor as they'd obviously been sitting down on chairs before being poofed. Henry and Alice immediately went to help their friend, Grace to her feet while Kilian and Neal went to help Jefferson, only for him to bat them away as he got to his feet himself.

The Hatter glared at the Dark One and the Dragon Witch - he'd known for years of Emma being Maleficent so he wasn't all that surprised to see her. "What the hell do you think your doing?!" he demanded angrily, he always hated when someone would teleport him around.

Emma just stared at Jefferson. "We need your help." she told him simply. She and Jefferson never really got along. It wasn't anything personal for either of them. They just both had very bad first meetings with each other. For Emma, it was the fact that he'd kidnapped her and Henry in order to force her to break the curse so he could be reunited with his daughter. For Jefferson, it was because he'd first met her when she and Rumpel were on a date, and he'd thought she was a random woman trying to pay off a debt in a more fun way. Jefferson had then made the mistake of asking if he could have a go with her next. Emma had responded by hitting him very hard between the legs with forcful blast of magic.

It was only because she knew Grace was one of Henry's best friends that she hadn't hit him with a fireball.

Jefferson glared at her. "Yes, and I asked 'Can it wait?'" he reminded them. "Better question, why should _I_ do anything for _you_?" he asked her specifically.

Emma swallowed her pride. "Because you are the only one who can help Rumpel and I find our daughter." she told him, almost coming close to begging.

The Hatter looked at them confused. He hadn't heard about them having a kid recently or even expecting one. He was sure it would've been the talk of the town if they were. "When did you two have another kid?" he asked them disbelievingly.

Rumpel nodded. "Yes, Dearie. She was born in the Enchanted Forest, before the Curse was cast." he revealed. What followed was he and Emma taking turns in explaining the circumstances that led to their daughter being taken - by Snow and Charming of all people - as well as what they'd said to Emma and then what they'd actually done to the child. Jefferson knew that, despite his feelings against Emma/Maleficent, not even she deserved for her own parents to kidnap her child and then tell her that she didn't deserve to be a mother. He knew that would've been utterly soul-crushing, especially for someone so utterly devoted to her family as Emma was.

Grace gasped in shock and had her hands over her mouth and her eyes were wide. Both before and after the curse, Grace had looked up to Snow and Charming for their bravery and heroics, and although her father had told her about some of the less heroic things they'd done she still possessed some form of hero worship. That worship died when she heard what the Charmings had done, and to their own daughter no less.

Jefferson looked at his daughter. He, of all people, knew the lengths one would go to for their child. He looked back at the parents and asked simply "What do you need me to do?"

Their smiles lit up the room as they moved aside allowing him to see the globe. "We need to know if you know this land and what you know about it." Rumpel told him.

The Hatter nodded and walked up to the globe to the realm in question. It took him a moment to search through his memories but he quickly found it. One of the disadvantages of being him was that he had an eidetic memory and could remember everything he'd seen. Sadly it's partially that which drove him mad.

Jefferson nodded as he spoke "Yeah, I know it. That's Auradon." he revealed. He then elaborated at their questioning looks "It's pretty similar to the Enchanted Forest, with Castles and Kingdoms and the like. Even has its own versions of us." Jefferson shrugged. "Although funnily enough I learned more about them when I came here."

The others looked confused at that. "How's that?" Regina asked him. The Mad Hatter shrugged and said "Because they're the Disney versions of us. Albeit a few years in the future." He then chuckled as he remembered something. "They even randomly burst into song at times." he said with a laugh.

Emma's eyes widened. "Seriously?!" she asked in shock. Before coming to Storybrooke she'd loved a good Disney movie however finding out that she was Snow White's daughter kind of ruined them for her. Learning of a world where it actually followed the Disney stories made the little girl in her heart cheer.

The Hatter nodded. "Yeah, although a few years before when I was there, the heroes had fought some big war against the villains - something about Keys and Blades or something - and had decided to magically merge their kingdoms together into one big one, called the United Kingdoms of Auradon with the now human Beast made King." he then pointed to the island with the Dark Cloud over it. "That's the Isle of the Lost, a sort of prison colony for all the villains, with a barrier to keep them in and prevent them from using magic - basically its like Storybrooke with a nicer, more technologically advanced Enchanted Forest next door."

The others all looked surprised at the information. After a moment, Regina said what they were all thinking "An island prison for the villains? And I thought our heroes were bad."

"Actually, if this world follows the events of the Disney movies, then the villains would be much darker than you guys were back in the day." Neal reminded the gathered villains. "Maleficent cursed Aurora to_ death_ rather than sleep, the Evil Queen was jealous of Snow White's beauty. That sort of thing." Emma simply shrugged at the mention of one of her, admittedly few, acts of villainy while Regina scoffed at her counterparts reasoning.

Emma nodded gratefully. "Well thank you, Jefferson, for the information." she thanked the hatter earnestly. She then asked him "Is there anything else we should know before we go there?"

Jefferson considered the question for a moment before answering. "Just that time moves differently between Dimensions than it does between Realms." he told them.

Everyone looked confused at his statement. "How's that, Mate?" Hook asked what they all thinking.

"When I went to Auradon," Jefferson began "it was about 3 years before the Curse was cast. After we returned from the Enchanted Forest and with all the problems with the Wicked Witch, (here he looked at Zelena, who simply stared back at him) I wanted to find a place to take Grace and get us both away from everything, and so I used my Hat and searched for a place for us to go. I looked at Arendelle, Agrabah hell I even looked at a version of Storybrooke where Emma became the Dark One!" he revealed, making everyone look at Emma in surprise at the thought of her being the Dark One. Emma and Rumpel looked at each other as the thought that in another reality she had potentially killed him. The Hatter continued "Eventually I came to Auradon and found that only 16 or so years had passed to my 33. Give or take a few months." he amended.

"One of the first things that I noticed was that the Heroes there seemed to have had kids of their own and I thought to myself _This is perfect! Grace and I can start a new life and Grace can have some new friends around her age._ But then I got worried - I'm not exactly what you call a 'hero' so I didn't know if they'd let me in - or worse, if they'd take Grace away from me and send me to the Isle." here he looked at his daughter like she was the most precious thing in the world to him. Which she was.

Grace, seeing the look in her father's eyes, squeezed his hand and gave him a smile that said she knew what he was thinking and that she felt the same.

Emma breathed a sigh of relief. She'd been terrified that when they found their little girl, she'd be a grown woman. Emma didn't know if she could take that. Rumpel squeezed her hand knowing what she was thinking. Turning to the Mad Hatter, Rumpel said "Thank you, Jefferson."

Jefferson nodded. "I hope you find her. Come on, Grace." he took his daughter's hand as they moved to leave the shop. The girl looked back at the family of villains and said with a hopeful smile "Good luck, Mr and Mrs Gold. Bye Henry, Bye Allie." she waved to her two friends, getting the feeling that she might not see them for a while.

"Bye Grace." the two teenagers said together and the Hatter and his daughter left the shop.

Once they were gone, Emma looked back at the globe. She stared determinately at the spot which indicated where Malena was.

Regina spoke up. "Well now we know the Where and the When. Now we just need the How." she summarised the situation before asking "How are we going to get there?"

Hook was the one to answer. "Well, since it's an island then I offer up the services of the Jolly Roger." he said, offering them his ship to help them. "Of course we still require the means to actually get the Roger there." Killian reminded them. Emma simply responded to this with a smirk.

"Thank you, Captain." she said before reaching into her pocket. "And as for means, I have this." she held up the item in question. It was a small white bean.

Everyone stared at the item in shock. "A Magic Bean?!" Neal asked is shocked surprise.

Still with the smirk on her face, Emma said "Yep. I got this thing centuries ago. Back when Magic Beans were plentiful and Fairies weren't little-" here she paused and looked at the kids for a moment before amending her sentence "Anyway, we have it so we can use it."

Rumpel nodded with a smile at his wife before turning to the others and said "We'll leave first thing tomorrow, so go home tonight and pack your things." he told them. "Because this time tomorrow we'll be long gone and we wont be coming back." he concluded.

Everyone nodded and moved to leave the shop, with Henry going with Regina to give his parents some time to themselves, but not before giving them both tight squeezing hugs.

Once everyone was gone, Emma lay her head on her husbands shoulder and finally let out her tears. As he held her close, Rumpel tried to console his distraught wife. "We'll find her. I promise." he told her.

"I hope so." Emma said through her sobs. "Cause I don't know what I'm gonna do if we can't."

Rumpel nodded in understanding. Truth was he didn't know either but he wanted to focus on making sure his wife was okay. As he thought this, the Dark One had a sudden Light bulb moment. "I believe, my love, that I have something of yours here." he said as he walked behind the counter.

Emma smiled as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She knew what he was trying to do and it made her love him even more. !I'm pretty sure you have several things of mine here, baby." she reminded him with a smirk.

Rumpel chuckled. "Ah, but this is special." he said as he lifted a long case onto the counter top. He turned it around so the clasps were facing her. Emma's eyes widened as she realised what the item in question was.

As she opened to case, Emma felt her eyes become wet again as she looked at what was in it. It was a beautiful sword which seemed to have been forged in silver, the hilt was black and in the style of a dragon with the blade extending from the dragon's mouth. The dragon's eyes were a beautiful emerald green and the cross guard was in the form of the dragons wings. On the end, the pommel was set with a beautiful emerald gemstone and on the blade were words written in an old language in a faint golden colour.

The scabbard next to it was a simple black with a beautiful gold dragon with horns spiralling around it.

Emma stared in wonder at the sword that she herself had forged centuries ago in Camelot. The weapon was then burnished in her own Dragon's Breath. As soon as her hand clasped onto the hilt, the emeralds and the gold lettering lit up with light, and the sword almost seemed to hum with power.

As she held the sword with the blade pointing to the ceiling, Maleficent whispered the name she'd bestowed upon it. "Diaval." she looked at Rumpel with joy.

Rumpel smiled at his beloved wife. She'd given him this sword just before he'd been imprisoned for him to return it to her after her past self fell into the portal. He pointed to the glowing markings on the blade and asked her "Do you remember what those words on the blade translate to?"

Emma nodded with a smile. "Yes, I do. On this side they say _'In the Darkest of Times.'._" she said before turning the weapon to reveal similar but different symbols on the other side. "And on this side they say _'Hope Shines Brightest'._"

"And I have hope," Rumpel began as he placed his around his wife's shoulders and held her close "that we will find our daughter." he promised and hoped he hadn't just gotten Emma's hopes up for nothing.

Emma looked at her husband with a smile as she lowered the sword. "Really?" she asked in a hopeful tone.

Rumpel nodded with confidence he didn't actually have. "Whatever it takes." he said. Then their lips met lovingly, sealing his promise.

* * *

**Early Next Morning.**

**Storybrooke Docks.**

Sure enough the next morning the group was gathered at the docks where the Jolly Roger was getting ready to set sail. Only now they were joined by two more people.

Belle was the daughter of King Maurice of Avonlea. When her kingdom was under siege of the Ogre's, her father had called for aid from the Dark One and had promised him a substantial amount of gold. However when Rumpelstiltskin arrived he didn't want gold, not when he could make it himself. No, what Rumpel wanted was Belle to be his maid. While her father and her betrothed, Sir Gaston both refused such a price, Belle was all for it. If it meant the safety of her people, then a lifetime of service to the Dark One was a price she was more than willing to pay.

Upon arriving at the Dark Castle, Belle quickly learned that the stories she'd heard of the Dark One were not all to be believed. Oh, sure, he could be terrifying and even cruel at times, however Belle also saw his kindness and the good man hidden behind the Beast. It was particularly when Maleficent would visit that she saw this lighter side of Rumpel, as she'd quickly see the obvious care between the two extremely powerful sorcerers and was happy as it turned to love before her eyes. Although it was immediately obvious to Belle that Maleficent was already in love with Rumpel and it wouldn't be until the Curse broke and she'd meet Emma, that Rumpel would explain the whole Time Travel part.

The other person was Ruby Lucas, known in the Enchanted Forest as Little Red Riding Hood and was Belle's girlfriend. She was the granddaughter of the Widow Lucas, a werewolf and later simply known as Granny. Red had been friends with Snow until she'd begun dating Belle as Snow was extremely homophobic and had said some very disgusting things about their relationship. Red and Belle had met in the village near the Dark Castle and there was an instant spark of True Love. It would only be the meddling of Rumpelstiltskin and Maleficent that would give both girls confidence to take their relationship to the next level.

Under the curse, Belle was called Lacey French and was the town's Librarian and was in a serious relationship with Ruby Lucas, a waitress at her Granny's Diner.

Emma - still wearing her all black outfit only without her horns, the only difference in her appearance was her sword, Diaval, on her hip in its scabbard - turned to the woman who would've been her godmother and asked "So Rubes, are you sure we wont have Granny hunting us down to bring you back?" She did her best to hide the fear in her voice.

Red smirked as she heard the fear in her friend's voice. It was a badly hidden secret that Granny was the only person who both Rumpel and Emma were terrified of. "No, don't worry, Ems. Granny all but threw Belle and I out the door so we could start a new life away from any judgmental idiots." she revealed, but there was sadness in her tone as well. It was well known that Granny was getting on in years and, despite still striking fear into the hearts of everyone from Rumpel to Leroy/Grumpy the Dwarf, the elderly werewolf didn't have a lot of years left in her. She wanted her granddaughter and the girl she loved like one to have the best life possible. Ruby then let the sadness on her face fade and a smirk to take its place as she spoke again. "She did, however, ask that I pass on a message to the two of you." she told Rumple and Emma.

Said Sorcerers looked at each other in trepidation before asking together "Oh?"

Belle smirked now as she could clearly see their fear. "Yes, or rather two messages. First she wishes you luck in finding your daughter." she began. She and Red had been horrified to hear what Snow and Charming had done to Emma , while Granny had nearly blown a gasket. She had never really trusted Snow, having always felt that there was something off with the princess even when they first met, and had tried to teach Red the same only for her granddaughter to trust the girl any way. It had taken Snow's reaction to Red coming out as gay for her to see the 'Fairest of Them All' for what she truly was. The beautiful bookworm continued "And secondly she wanted you to know that if anything happens to Red or I, then she'll hunt you down and show you that neither immortality or being in a different realm will protect you from her." she almost laughed out loud at how pale her friends became.

Neither Emma nor Rumpel doubted Granny's words. Wanting to get away from the terrifying thoughts now in their minds, Rumpel turned to Hook on the deck of the ship. "Is everything ready, Captain?" Rumpel quickly asked his friend - I mean minion! Because they weren't friends!

Really!

No matter what everyone else thought.

Killian turned to his not-friend. "Aye, Crocodile. She's all set to sail." he said as he stood on deck with Alice at his side grinning. Mr. Smee and the rest of the crew wouldn't be joining them as they all had lives and families here in Storybrooke and couldn't bring themselves to uproot them all, which Killian and the others all understood. Instead the pirates simply all wished the group - specifically Emma and Rumpel - good luck in their mission and in their future. "Once everyone is on board, we can go." he continued.

Emma nodded. "Good. Well let's get going before-" she began but was interrupted by a very unwelcome voice.

"Emma!"

At the sound of her mothers voice, Emma rolled her eyes and growled in annoyance. "Before _that_ happens." she turned around to see her _parents_ running towards them, and Emma had to roll her eyes at the sight of her little brother in a buggy being pushed by Snow - seriously, they were villains and they had the fricking baby with them?!

But what really pissed Emma off was the two other people in the group. The first was the one being that Emma utterly despised most in any realm. Reul Ghorm - the Blue Fairy. Unlike with Jefferson, the very much mutual hate between the two was very personal. For Emma it was from all the stories she'd heard about the bug and her actions towards her friends before the curse broke and then her general personality afterwards. Blue's reasons for her dislike of Emma dated much further back - to before Emma ever gained the name Maleficent, but neither were really in a hurry to reveal those reasons.

The last person was more of an annoyance than anything else. August Wayne Booth aka Pinocchio. When the Curse had been cast, the Blue Fairy had convinced her parents to send the then former puppet child into the magic wardrobe with her, so as to keep her away from those who would influence her away from the Good Path. Emma snorted. Yeah, that went well.

What annoyed her most of all was how her parents were constantly trying to set her up with the puppet-man - even going so far as to try to interrupt her and Rumpel's wedding. Thankfully they and Regina had expected such a thing and had put up protection spells to keep them out.

Emma looked at Regina - who was standing with Zelena and Henry on either side of her while Bae was on the Jolly Roger, having been helping Hook get her ready - and asked in a deadpan voice "Do you think if we ignored them then they'll go away?" Her hopes were dashed by Regina's snort of disbelief.

"If I thought for a moment that that was possible, I'd have done it years ago." she said in an equally deadpan voice. Emma just pouted for a moment before turning to glare at her parents.

"What the Hell do you want now, Snow?" she asked, angry that her mother was stopping her from finding her little girl.

Snow flinched at her daughters angry tone. After she and Charming had been teleported back to the hospital and had been unable to leave until Blue had finally been able to free them this morning. They'd returned to their apartment and got a change of clothes before planning to go find Emma and talk some sense into their daughter, because it was so obvious to them that the villains had her under some spell to make her believe she was Maleficent. When the Dwarfs came and told them that the villains were congregating at the Docks and that Emma was with them, they had immediately gone to intercept them. They had even brought August with them in the hopes that True Loves Kiss could save their daughter.

She responded to Emma's angry question. "What I want is to talk some sense into you, before you make a terrible mistake!" Snow told her. She took a step back when Emma's eyes flashed gold in her fury.

"A MISTAKE!?" Emma asked, equally incredulous as well as furious at the same time. "You believe it would be a mistake to find my daughter, even if its just to know if she's okay after what YOU did to her?!"

Snow was still completely unrepentant however. "Well of course it was. I don't know what dark spell those monsters," here she glared at Regina and Gold, letting there be no mystery about who she was calling monsters, "have you under to make you believe that you're Maleficent of all people, but dont worry sweetheart, once August gives you True Love's Kiss then your father and i can help you get away from them." The look on Snow's face as she said this told Emma that her mother expected instant obedience.

She was disappointed however when Emma just looked incredulous. "And what exactly makes you think for even a second _that Pinocchio_ of all people is my True Love?!" she asked her mother in confusion, which was shared by all of the villains.

Snow smiled, thinking her daughter was finally seeing things her way. "Well of course he is. He's been watching over you for years." she said as if that answered everything.

Emma just looked gobsmacked at Snow's reasoning. "And that- You- Wha-?" she couldn't quite get a single question out as her mother's thought process had rendered her momentarily dumb. She rubbed the bridge of her nose to massage away her growing headache. Finally Emma looked back to Snow. "You know what, I'm gonna go find my daughter before hearing you speak causes me to lose my mind." she then turned to walk onto the deck of the ship.

However Snow was undaunted. "Emma Ruth, don't you dare get on that ship! I forbid it!" she shouted, finally at her own wits end. She even went so far as to stomp her foot like a spoiled princess (which she actually was) having a tantrum.

"Never listened to you before." Emma respond unconcerned as she led Henry up the gang plank, with Zelena, Red and Belle (Neal was already on deck with Killian and Alice) following with Regina and Rumple staying at Emma's side as back up. "Why the Hell should I do so now?" she asked.

Snow growled. She turned to the Blue Fairy and demanded of her "Blue, do something!"

Immediately, the fairy began to raise her wand, eager to finally remove the biggest thorn in her side permanently. However before she could give it a wave, Emma turned to glare at her with bright golden eyes. "Don't even think about waving that wand at me, Blue unless you want me to reveal your deepest darkest secret." she threatened her long time nemesis.

Blue gritted her teeth and growled with hate. "Do you really think that you're strong enough to stop me, Maleficent?" she asked arrogantly, but inside she knew that Emma was more than strong enough.

Emma smirked. "Have you forgotten our first fight after so many years?" she asked the arrogant bug. "How many walls did I knock you through again? Two? Three?" she asked mockingly. Regina and Rumpel sniggered to themselves, they'd heard of the event in question but not the reason behind it.

Before Blue could do more than glare and growl, Snow shouted in frustration "Enough! This is getting us nowhere!" she said before turning to Emma and pulling out what she thought was her trump card. "Emma if you wont stay for your father or I, then at least stay for Leopold." she said with a hopeful smile as she looked down her beloved and now named son who obliviously snoozing in his buggy.

Emma and Regina both tensed at the name. "Leopold?! You're naming him Leopold?!" she asked completely incredulous as she said the name 'Leopold' in no small amount of disgust. Behind her Rumpel placed his hand consolingly on Regina's arm.

Completely oblivious to any of this and thinking that Emma was coming around to her way of thinking, Snow continued "Well of course. We want him to grow into a good, strong man just like my father." she said as she stared proudly at her little boy.

The faces of the Mistress of Magic and the Evil Queen turned slightly green at the thought. "If he does become like Leopold then I truly feel sorry for any poor girl he has his eyes on in the future." Emma looked at her little brother, dreading what life he had ahead of him. An idea began to grow in her mind that would either help him or destroy him.

Snow glared at her daughter. "And what do you mean by that?!" she demanded before glaring at a pale Regina with hate. "What disgusting lies have you been telling my daughter about her grandfather, you evil witch?!"

Regina didn't answer as she was too lost in her memories of her time as the wife King Leopold. But as Rumpel tried to comfort her, Emma glared at her mother anew. "I didn't need Regina to tell me anything about him because I saw the kind of monster he was with my own eyes." said eyes glowed gold as Emma remembered the state Regina would be in after Leopold was done with her and how she'd cry herself to sleep with guilt over not being able to help her best friend. She growled at Snow as she spoke next "Believe me, mother, if I hadn't known for certain that the Genie was the one to kill him, then I'd have killed the bastard myself!"

Snow gasped in shock at the malice in Emma's eyes and voice before glaring in fury. Forgetting who she was with, Snow lashed out with a vicious back slap to her daughters face. Emma's head swung to the side from the force of the slap and when she turned back there was a small cut on her lip.

The one known as Maleficent smirked at her mother as she touched the cut. "And _that _was the final straw." she told her as the cut healed before her horrified mothers eyes. "You know, I was prepared for us to go our separate ways in relative peace as long as I never had to see either of you again." she told her honestly. "But no you hade to interfere." As she glared at Snow who took a step back, Charming tried to move forward to intervene, only for Rumpel to freeze him, August and Blue in place.

Knowing that she'd need to be quick before Blue unfroze, Emma began "Do you know what it's like, to have your child stolen from you by your own mother? To be powerless to stop it? For your own mother to tell you, you don't deserve to be a mother yourself?" she asked rhetorically and with equal anger and pain. "You stabbed me in the heart only moments before Daddy Dearest (she nodded at the frozen Charming) stabbed me in the stomach." she declared. "It felt like having your heart ripped from your chest." Emma ignored her mother's tears as she acted like she had a sudden thought. "Actually let me show you what I mean." With that she plunged her hand into Snow's chest and took out her mother's half of her heart.

As she held her mother's heart in her hand, Emma smirked at how dark the half-heart was. _'So much for the Fairest of them All'_ she thought to herself.

Snow glared at her daughter. "Go on. Crush it." she told her, fully expecting Emma to do just that. "I'd rather be dead than live in a world with a monster like you in it."

Emma gritted her teeth before grinning. "Don't worry, mother, I have no intention of killing you." She stepped closer and smirked. "I'm not gonna be that nice." she promised.

Snow was confused and nervous. "W-What do you mean?" she asked worriedly.

Emma glared at her mother. "I lost 16 years of my child's life. It's only fair that you suffer like I have." her eyes flickered down to her little brother "Who knows? The kid might be better off without you in his life." And then raised her mother's heart to her mouth. She opened her mouth and, with her eyes glowing gold, she blew out a breath of green smoke which touched the heart and made it glow green. Snow watched in horror as a trail of smoke snaked off and touched the baby making him glow as well.

Before Snow could react, Emma shoved the heart non-too-gently back into Snow's chest. With a hate-filled glare into her mother's eyes Emma spoke "I Hate You!" before shoving Snow away and moving to walk up the gang plank to the ship, with her husband and her best friend at her sides.

As she watched the creature that was once her daughter walk up to the ship, Snow moved to pick up her son (who had somehow managed to sleep through the entire confrontation). Just as she touched him however, Blue unfroze and exclaimed "Snow, don't!" but it was too late as, as soon as Snow's hands touched her son the area around her chest where her heart was glowed with a bright green light. The White Queen screamed in pain as if she had been stabbed repeatedly by a thousand knives, right in her heart.

Blue waved her wand and unfroze Charming and August, the former of whom immediately rushed to his wife to check on her. Snow tried to pick up her son again, only for her to feel the same agonizing pain as before.

The blond ignored Snow's calls of "Emma! Emma! What did you do?!" As soon as they were on the deck, Emma called out to Killian at the wheel "Captain, take us out." she ordered.

Killian nodded to his friend. "Aye, Aye!" he responded, and turned the wheel and with the sails now down they began their journey.

Back on the dock, Snow glared at the ship sailing away. She turned to Blue "What did she do to me, Blue?" she asked as she gasped in pain.

Blue joined her in her glare as the ship left. "I have an idea." she responded to her queen. "But lets get back to your place so that I can check." and with that, a dark blue poof of smoke and sparkels left the dock empty of people.

* * *

**Shortly After. Out to Sea.**

Everyone was silent as the Jolly Roger sailed away from Storybrooke, the crew was silent.

Emma and Rumpel stood at the bow of the ship holding each other, Emma holding the Magic Bean in her hand. When she heard someone walking up to her, their heels tapping against the wooden deck told Emma exactly who it was. She turned around and sure enough it was Regina with a concerned Henry at her side.

"Did you mean it?" Regina asked once she was next to her best friend. Emma looked at her friend questioningly, although her eyes said that she knew what Regina wanted to know. The Queen elaborated "Did you mean what you said about Leopold?"

Maleficent smiled comfortingly to her and nodded. "I meant every word that I said." she revealed, before she then continued apologetically "I would've done something to interfere but someone had put up wards around the castle to prevent any one with magic from entering without being invited in." It was still a mystery to her and Rumpel about whether it was Cora's spell, Blue's or someone else.

Regina nodded understandingly and allowed her best friend to hug her. Her years as Leopold's wife were some of the worst years of her life, considering everything the King and his daughter had put her through. Her mother didn't make it much easier either.

Henry looked at his birth mom, having already been consoling his adoptive mother over her resurfaced bad memories. "You okay, Ma?" he asked her, worried about her confrontation with her parents. Before the curse broke, Henry had looked up to the image of his grandparents in his book, however that quickly died when he saw for himself how manipulative and cruel they were, not only to Regina but even to their own daughter. The revelation of exactly what they'd done to her had been the final nail in the coffin.

Emma smiled at her son, glad that he was nothing like his grandparents. "Yeah, I'm fine kid." she told him as she hugged him, happy to have her son back in her arms and eager for the whole of her true family to be reunited. Her smile widened as Rumpel and even Regina wrap their arms around them.

As the family of four hugged, they were interrupted by a shrill whistle. They turned in the direction to see Hook staring at them, having whistled to get their attention. "Sorry to interrupt, Lads and Lasses." Killian apologized. "But we're far enough from shore to use the bean."

Emma nodded to her friend before turning to the sea. "Okay, brace yourselves." she said and then threw the bean. "Auradon, here we come!" she exclaimed as it sailed through the air. As it hit the water, the portal it created became a whirlpool which the Jolly Roger sailed towards.

The family held each other as they went into the portal, before it vanished from view and the sea was calm once more.

* * *

**Meanwhile at the Charmings Loft.**

Now back in their home, Snow and David held each other over the realisation of how far their daughter had fallen. But while David felt guilt over what they had done, especially over the injury he'd given Emma, Snow didn't feel any guilt at all, feeling that they hadn't done enough to save Emma from her darkness.

She was also silently raging over whatever Emma had done to her and her son, as well as what she'd said about her wonderful father.

The two looked up when Blue walked over from where they'd placed their son in order to stop whatever curse Emma had cast from harming Snow. Blue told them what she'd discovered "It's called the Curse of the Poisoned Heart. It's a very dark curse which prevents loved ones from ever being with each other without one of them suffering severe agonising pain or even death." she revealed, herself surprised at how vindictive Emma could actually be.

Snow cried at what she'd heard. "She's made it so that I can never be with my son in revenge for taking her daughter." she summarised.

David asked a question that they were both hoping for a positive answer. "Is there any way to break it?"

Blue responded with a calm expression. "It seems that Emma put a time limit on the curse as it will stop when the young prince is 16." she told them. As she watched the Charmings' reactions to this news, Blue allowed a plan to form in her mind and she had to use all of will to suppress her grin. "But there might be a way around it, although it might be dangerous." she told them.

The Charmings looked at her with hope. "What? What is it?" Charming asked desperately. "We'll do anything to save our family." he said and Snow nodded in agreement.

Blue had to turn away as she couldn't suppress her reaction. "I was hoping you'd say that." she said with an evil grin.

* * *

**Phew! This chapter was a bitch and a half to write. It just would stop!**

**The next chapter is going to be the reunion although it might take me a while as I want to get it right so please be patient.**


	4. Sorry

Sorry this is taking so long. I was midway through the 4th chapter but then I got new ideas for the first 3 and couldn't focus until I started writing them down. So this will take a bit longer than I originally thought. Again really, really sorry but I'll try and get this sorted as soon as I can.


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